Acrobatic defense, an increasingly unpredictable attack and a whole lot of sweeps have allowed the Grand Valley State University volleyball team to rattle off quite a run recently in GLIAC play.

No. 13 GVSU (17-3, 13-0 GLIAC) won its 25th and 26th consecutive regular season conference matches over the weekend by knocking off Northern Michigan University and Michigan Technological University in straight sets at Fieldhouse Arena. The streak, which dates back to last season, is the second longest in program history.

“I don’t want to jinx myself, but we’ve never ran the table in the conference,” said GVSU coach Deanne Scanlon, who has coached the Lakers to six one-loss seasons in conference play.

The undefeated GLIAC record was on the line Friday night against a somewhat enigmatic Northern Michigan team, which came in with a 10-1 mark in conference play but an overall record of 10-10.

The third-place Wildcats clawed their way to a 17-11 edge in the first set, but it wouldn’t last long after GVSU cranked up the defensive intensity and went on a 30-5 run.

The Lakers quickly reclaimed the lead – and did not trail again in the match – on their way to a victory in straight sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-12).

“We were down and were like ‘this is not acceptable,’” said GVSU senior setter Kaitlyn Wolters, who dished out 17 assists. “Something clicked in our brains, and we just decided to push through it and win.”

The win was sparked by a stingy defensive performance, as the Lakers limited Northern Michigan to a -.052 hitting percentage clip.

Senior Ally Simmons paced GVSU with seven kills and a game-high five block assists, while 10 different Lakers had at least one kill in the victory.

“As a unit, we proved ourselves,” Simmons said. “It was really good to beat Northern because last year they gave us a run for our money every time we played them. They’re usually a super strong team. Tonight we just had a lot of energy, and it showed us we can pursue what our goals are for the rest of the year.”

The energy certainly carried over into Saturday’s contest against the Huskies. The Lakers held Michigan Tech to another low hitting percentage mark (.094), and had a chance to rest their starters after the first set.

GVSU junior Betsy Ronda led the way with a game-high 11 kills, and 11 Lakers supplied at least one kill in the sweep (25-23, 25-13, 25-17).

“Anyone on our bench could start anywhere else in the conference,” Ronda said. “It’s a huge strength of ours, knowing that we have anybody that can come off the bench and really do what we need them to do.”

The weekend sweeps set up a key matchup Tuesday night against No. 22 Ferris State University at the Ewigleben Sports Arena in Big Rapids, Mich.

Ferris State (15-5, 12-1 GLIAC) will look to even the season series against the Lakers and climb back into first place with a win.

“It’s huge, we’re excited to get up there,” Scanlon said. “It seems like forever since we’ve played them at our place. It’s always a great environment up there too. I just want it to be a great match.

“We want another conference championship. We know what that match means to them. It could tie things up with them, but it could put us in a really, really good spot – if we go up and beat them on their home court – to win another conference championship and host another GLIAC Tournament.”